weeks ago dropped by a volunteer office near his home in chicago. he calls swing state wisconsin. >> my name is barack obama. you know, the president? this is barack obama. it is. i'm calling to say thank you. you're working so hard. >> reporter: it is the last day of his last campaign. >> so i just want to say thank you to the american people. i also want to say to governor romney, congratulations on a spirited campaign. i know that his supporters are just as engaged and just as enthusiastic. just as hard today. >> reporter: voter turnout seemed heavy. this was colorado, one of the battle ground states. other swing states today. new hampshire and virginia. voters lined up in many polling places. wisconsin, snow on election day. this was cleveland airport at midday. mitt romney's plane, paul ryan's and nearby, vice president biden's plane. they were all in ohio.

romney and ryan headed to a volunteer center. stopping in a wendy's. >> hey, judy, this is mitt romney. how are you? >> reporter: biden, too, stopped in a restaurant. just a few more hours and they get the first returns. we have more live team coverage in virginia and across the entire d.c. area. it has been a busy day. the northern virginia bureau chief julie carey is live in richmond and tonight all eyes are on the battleground states. julie? >> reporter: well, especially virginia. virginia is considered the state to watch because the polls close at 7:00 so we'll start getting an earlier idea what's happening in the presidential could be he is the. and because it simply could that be a tighter race here. mitt romney and barack obama dead locked in nearly all the polls leading up to election day. whomever wins northern virginia

could be the winner of the commonwealth. prince william county. one of the battlegrounds within the battleground virginia. it was a key to president obama's victory in 2008. but in 2012, the romney campaign also has its sights set on the northern virginia outer suburbs. at this polling place in wood bridge, gigi said it has been a difficult four years and a struggle to decide who to vote for. an obama voter in 2008, she was leaning toward romney this time. >> i would have probably voted for romney if he had been more consistent with his answers on issues. i again voted for barack obama and i'm not sure that it was right. >> reporter: this voter did make a switch from obama in 2008 to romney now. >> i voted for romney just because of the economy. i like obama. i think he's, i think -- i think we need to have something changed up to affect the direction of the economy. >> reporter: for john, the decision was easy.

he calls himself a reliable gop voter. >> i voted for mitt. we need change which we never got. and more of the same. the defense sis spending, way too high. >> reporter: fairfax county is critical to both candidates. this woman went to three polling places before finding the right one and voting for barack obama. >> i believe he would be a better candidate to run the country. i think he is more of a leader. his leadership is more for all people. >> reporter: now, i will be covering the virginia democrats. they are heartened by something they are seeing in turnout. they are saying that 2012 turnout looks a lot more like 2008. the question is, does that favor mitt romney or barack obama? we will find out in a few hours. reporting live from rich monday. news4. >> thanks. republican vice presidential candidate paul ryan made virginia his final stop in the

campaign. he visited a republican victory center and faced campaign workers who were still on the phones making get out the vote calls. ryan started his day voting in his home town of jamesville, wisconsin, before he joined governor romney in cleveland. he is now on his way to boston where he and romney will watch the returns come in. >> the lines to vote have been long. in virginia, the lines snaked through buildings and spilled outside. some people reported waiting two to three hours to cast their ballots in virginia. and here is a live look now at the polling places in bailey's cross roads. there has been a long line here all day. but it is beginning to shorten at this point. the polls in virginia are open until 7:00 tonight. >> not only in virginia. d.c. and maryland, voters are waiting for hours to be part of this election. some precincts are slowed by machine problems. others are hoping with huge turnouts. more on the vote here's are

determined to cast their ballots. >> reporter: we're live in eleanor roosevelt high school in green belt. one of the many voting places. the people you see behind me are mostly handing out campaign literature. there are no lines. that was not the case earlier. there were lines and equipment malfunctions but people did not give up. in prince george's county, some residents waited in line for hours to vote. >> we first got in. half the machines were not and they didn't have enough cards for everybody. >> reporter: some of the wait was because of the large number of people turning out to cast their ballots in the morning. voters told us, when the computers went down, that made the delays and confusion even worse. >> some of the machines were broken down. they lost half the machines. >> reporter: then there were inconveniences for seniors and the disabled. some waited outside because they did not know they could wait inside. here in northwest washington, we heard reports of people standing

in these lines for as long as three hours. >> i've been voting here for 25, 30 years and i've never seen lines like this. never. >> reporter: later in the afternoon, many of the lines were gone. like here at the boys and girls club in laurel. >> it wasn't too long. it was worth the wait. >> reporter: he said it shows residents are dedicated to making their vote count. >> clearly there is frustration. the good and the bad. people are coming out and coming out in record numbers. >> polls close here in maryland at 8:00. reporting live from green belt. news4. >> thank you. it is a cold day and night for all those voters standing in those lines outside the polling locations. storm team 4 meteorologist doug kammerer is here with a look at some win weather and more of it headed our way. >> it is possible. i think by this time tomorrow, some areas will be seeing at least some snow flakes in parts

of our area. this cold air is here and all we need is the storm. a coastal storm making its way up the coast. this storm still far enough to the south that we're only seeing the clouds far enough. we've got some fairly cold windchills. temperatures on the cool side. 44 degrees. look at the winds. northeast at 13 miles an hour. and take a look at these numbers. the windchill down to 38 in washington. 34 in martinsburg. what will this next storm bring us? what can you speck where you live as far as snow is concerned? i'll show you in my forecast. coming up, a candidate in the district is arrested and charged after takedown at the polls. super storm sandy decimated homes that left millions powerless. except when it came to the power of the vote. and it could be a long night downing votes in virginia. and it is not just the presidential vote up for grabs.

>> reporter: we're covering the races that matter to you live all night. we'll have live results and special web streams at nbc washington.com starting at 7:00. then i'll

there's already some confusion in florida on this election day. voters there got more than 12,000 automatic call saying they have until tomorrow to cast their ballots. it happened in pinelas county. the call were supposed to go out yesterday. the supervisor of elections admitted the calls went out today by mistake, he said. the wife florida's governor, charlie crist, received one of those calls. after realizing the error, new calls went out today clarifying that today is in fact election day. onight we're hearing from the man who says he was attacked by a candidate for d.c.'s advisory neighborhood commission. police arrested grace daughtridge. police say she attacked a man after he appeared to be tampering with one of her signs. he said he knows her. he said he was trying on bring her a sign that had fallen over.

>> i used to play football. she did a textbook open field tackle on me. she knock me to the ground and then started with the homophobic slurs. >> she thought you were tampering with her signs but you just picked it up to take it to her? >> yeah. i knew she and her husband would be here at the polling area. >> reporter: a precinct captain called police. she was arrested today by first district police officers. coming up tonight, determined voters heading to the polls after surviving hurricane sandy. >> we may not get hit hard by the next coastal storm but new york and new jersey are bracing for the snow and new wind. same sex marriage. voters could make history

ahead on news4. the virginia senate race has two form he virginia governors battling to claim that coveted seat. >> it is expected to be one of the tightest races in the nation. 33 u.s. senate seats are up for grabs across the country. the results could change the balance of power on capitol

hill. now a look at the critical race between tim kahne and george allen. >> reporter: this is one of the most expensive races in the country. an estimated $84 million spend by both candidates combined. tonight about two mile away, tim kaine will be waiting for the results. virginia's next senator will be a former governor. republican george allen cast his ballot in alexander re. a tim kaine in richmond. both men campaigned on their track records. kaine's path inspired. obama supporters to back him today. buttal voters decided to vote down party lines. the presidential race helping to dictate the rest of the ballot. i'm a diehard republican. democrats tend to push responsibility away from the states and on to the federal government. >> reporter: the powe show a

tight race to the finish. >> you never know which way virginia will go. >> they are hoping to replace retiring senator jim webb. he has been out on the campaign trail with his fellow democrat, tim kaine. people in areas hit hard by super storm sandy last week are still finding ways to get to the polls. election officials say turnout is heavy in parts of new york. voting machines are set up in tents. voting was delayed when workers couldn't get the generators to work. in new jersey, election officials extended the deadline for clerks to process e-mail ballots. displaced voters can now e-mail or fax their ballots as late as friday night. their votes will still work. this could make the state vulnerable to lawsuits. >> with all that they have survived and endured, now there's more coming their way? >> yeah. and this is a typical nor'easter

type of storm that normally would not do a whole lot. taking off some of the seawalls, they're going to get flooding they normally would not see with a storm. and plus, 50 to 60-mile-an-hour winds. they could see more power outages. some areas could see snow and that could be parts of the jersey shore. this is not a storm they want to talk about. the worst will miss the d.c. area. we've been about this. it looks even more likely now that we will see almost nothing in most of our region. for the record today, we saw a high temperature that went to only 48 degrees. one of the coldest election days in our history as far as presidential elections go. ten days in a row below average, and the coldest low temperature that we've seen since the middle of march. it was a very cold day and it is still cold. winds out of the northeast at 13 miles an hour. that puts our windchill at 38 degrees. if you're trying to make your way out to the polls in some of the areas, make sure you bundle

up. if you do run into those lines. 39 in gaithersburg. 39 in culpepper. 44 for our friends in fredericksburg and patuxent at 46 degrees. there's no rain to show you in our region but just down to the south. you can start to see where this storm is taking shape. it is down toward portions of north carolina and making its way offshore. this is the next area of low pressure that is needed to pull this back toward the coast. we saw that happen with sandy but for us, this will happen too late. that is some good news for those of you not excited about any snow. just took a poll. 60% would love to see some snow. i don't think that will happen. that's the official weather poll. sunshine with rather chilly temperatures. tomorrow, not much in the way of sun. i think mostly cloudy skies. well off the coast and i think that's where it will remain. yes, we could see a little snow and a little in the way of light

rain. the wind is what everybody will see in our area. let's talk about this on thursday. once again, a very low impact event for us on wednesday afternoon. tomorrow afternoon. and even during the night tomorrow night, when the intensity is the greatest for philadelphia. new york, over toward portions of the delmarva. a very high impact event for the coast. for the i-95 corridor, this will be a low impact event. even through early on thursday morning. let's talk about the snow. i do think we have a chance to see some snow. at least a few flurries possible from d.c. down to the south and west to the north and east, however, maybe a dusting. that would be on the high side but could it happen in some locations. from baltimore to the north. maybe a little more. maybe one to two inches toward the at or about deep area if you're traveling from d.c. toward philly. once again, not a huge deal for us. tomorrow morning, up to moistly cloudy skies. breezy and cold. temperatures, 27 to 35 degrees.

winds will be already at 10 to 20 miles an hour. by tomorrow afternoon, the winds will be gusting to near 40 miles an hour. it will be a very cold day tomorrow. and yes, i do think rain and snow will develop at times. it will mostly be on the light side once again. this is not something to worry about. 53 on your thursday. 56 on friday. and here is something, not to worry about. but to think about. sunshine and 60s coming up on saturday, sunday, and into monday, of course, veterans day. right now, the weekend is fantastic. boy, could we use it. >> it is good to have weather to look forward to. thank you. gay marriage and the new casino in prince george's county are two of the biggest ballot measures in maryland. we have live team coverage. we begin with prince george's bureau chief tracee wilkins with a look at what's next if voters pass on bringing a new casino to the national harbor. >> reporter: voters in prince george's county decide they

don't want today acasino in this county, that won't necessarily mean an end for gaming expansion in maryland. what voters decide on question 7 will forever change the face of gaming in maryland. we spoke with voters today in the county who say they are very aware of the power of their vote. >> i voted for number 7. i believe it will create jobs. and it will help the schools. >> if you gamble, that's your choice. being a christian woman i just voted against it. >> reporter: polls show an uncertain future for gaming expansion in maryland and a sixth casino. >> we get 100% of nothing if we don't vote to do something. >> reporter: if voters vote against 7 but the rest of maryland approves it, that will mean gaming expands but prince george's does not get a casino. if they vote for question 7 and the rest state says no, that will mean no table games.

and no future for mgm. the ceo will me in a recent interview, his company has no interest in anything less than a high encasino. >> you cannot make it work at the scale i'm talking about, an $800 investment without gaming as part of that. >> reporter: if they both vote question on question 7, then they will have to go to work to quickly begin accepting bids for who will build the casino and where. mgm has made a claim they want to get that bid. anyone can bid. meanwhile, table games will make their way into casinos that already exist here in maryland. reporting live, news4. >> the future of a law that makes higher education more attainable will be decided by voters today as well. that's in maryland, of course. the dream act was passed by maryland legislators last year. after some protests, it was put

on the ballot for referendum. that law would allow all maryland residents to pay instate tuition at public colleges, regardless of their immigration status but after having met certain conditions. >> tonight voters in maryland could become the first in the nation to approve a state law legalizing marriage between two people of the same agendaer. the issue has been put before voters in 32 states and has been struck down each time. chris gordon is in baltimore to tell us what maryland voters are saying about question 6. chris? >> reporter: same sex marriage. supporters say it is a matter of civil rights. opponents say it violates their religious beliefs. tonight, maryland voters decide. >> thank you so much. >> reporter: a spontaneous debate broke out right in front of us. that's how strongly people feel about this. at charles h. flowers high school in prince george's county, volunteers for and against question 6. marriage equal handed out fliers, hoping to influence voters. >> i voted against it.

i don't think the governor should have a say in something like that. >> i am for question 6. for me it is a fundamental issue of respect. >> i voted against it. it is against my religion. >> i have a gay daughter. and believe me, that's a good reason. >> reporter: so you voted -- >> for. >> reporter: at north bethesda middle school in montgomery county, most had decided how they would vote before coming to the polls. >> marriage is a sacred initution. a man and woman come together to create a child. additional children may come their way. i think that's what god intended. jr. joel and emily robins brought their 16 daughter with them. >> i voted for it. i don't see anything wrong with it. i have friends and i'm sure they would like to get married one day. >> reporter: maryland polls close at 8:00. this is chris gordon live in baltimore. news4. back to you. >> thank you. a live look at a p

their ballots. we'll break it all down. a look at the lines it is a currently is in bailey's cross roads in fairfax county, virginia. throughout the day the lines have been quite long. poll in virginia open for another 30 minutes or so. they close at 7:00 tonight. in maryland and the district, the poll will close at 8:00. we'll have much more election coverage throughout the evening right here on news4. it continues on 30 minutes on air and on inning washington.com. online, we will live stream all of our coverage. we have web only reports from tom sherwood and angie. go to nbcwashington.com starting at 7:00. you can also tell us about your voting experience today. tweet at nbc washington with the